Chronic pain is debilitating and often renders individuals unable to live normal lives, preventing them from going to work, traveling, and participating in many activities. Cannabidiol (CBD) is slowly being established as an effective, safe, and nontoxic remedy for pain, but establishing the correct CBD dosage for pain could be challenging if you don't know where to start.
There are no formal dosage guidelines for CBD in place yet—and moreover, the correct dosage could vary from person to person, influenced by factors such as body weight, age, metabolism, and chemical makeup.
So, the best course of action would be as follows:
- Especially if you are very ill and are taking pharmaceutical drugs, consult with your physician to discuss possible drug interactions, etc. Do this before taking any CBD product, and never attempt to replace your current pain medication without your doctor's consent.
- Do your own research and inform yourself on CBD for pain.
- Using a quality oil or tincture, experiment with CBD dosage for pain with the basic guidelines we provide in this article.
Read on to learn more regarding the correct CBD dosage for pain as well as CBD's therapeutic applications.
CBD Dosage for Pain—the Basic Dosage Guidelines
If you're aren't dealing with a health challenge, you feel great and just use CBD as a preventative (kudos to you!), take the suggested dosage on the bottle. CBD is an essential nutrient, and even if you aren't feeling different, your body is still using it for important processes. As a daily supplement, a CBD tincture dosage should remain quite low.
However, if you suffer from pain, with these pointers you can be sure to find a sweet spot for alleviation.
Make Sure You Have a Good CBD Oil or Tincture: The market is still largely unregulated in the U.S., which means you will need to make sure you're buying a quality product. No matter how you dose, an inferior product will not have much effect. Read here for excellent recommendations on what to look out for in a CBD oil.
Start Low: Begin with a low dose, typically the suggested daily dosage on the bottle (5 to 10 milligrams). Be sure to take it on an empty stomach and with a bit of plant oil, such as coconut or olive.
Go Slow: Maintain this dosage for at least two to three days. Continue increasing it every few days. Try taking 25 mg, then 50 mg, then 100 mg, etc. Note also that for severe pain, you may need to take very high doses of CBD before you feel a satisfactory effect.
If you are under medical supervision, you and your supervising healthcare provider may want to consider starting you off on a high dose (such as 600 mg). This is not harmful, but expect effects such as somnolence, mental confusion, and perhaps stomach upset. These symptoms will all start to diminish after a week or so, and you will likely feel the analgesic effect of CBD much sooner than going the slower route.
Divide the Doses: These doses can also be divided during the day, especially if you experience side effects on one dose. Always maintain a new dosage for a few days, as CBD works by building up over time.
Stay With It: Depending on the previously mentioned factors, CBD may take a while before you will feel good results. Don't give up after only a few days of use—either increase your CBD dosage for pain or continue a bit longer on the current dose. Especially if you're a new user, your body is likely to take a while to acclimatize itself to the healthful cannabinoids.
Keep a Journal or Take Note of the Dose: Throughout the experimentation phase, monitor how you feel, your mood, cravings, how you sleep, etc. We suggest keeping a journal to compare the pain you experience before commencing with the pain throughout the process, but it could also be a helpful tool for your physician.
RELATED: How to Use CBD For Pain-Free Days
What Are Potential CBD Therapeutic Applications for Pain?
Even though people are already using CBD in a myriad of ways to treat their unique pain experiences, clinical evidence of its efficacy is still in nascent phases. However, the available data is encouraging, and studies have been done or are underway on specific uses.
The areas of research with the widest impact are for chronic pain, arthritic pain, and as an added method for relieving cancer pain.
1. CBD for Chronic Pain
In a 2008 review that looked at studies conducted from the late 1980s until 2007, the authors concluded that CBD was effective in overall pain management. In addition, it managed pain without adverse side effects. It was also noted that CBD helped ease insomnia related to chronic pain. [1]
2. CBD for Arthritic Pain
A 2016 study applied CBD gel to rats to monitor inflammation and pain levels in affected joints. Researchers gave each rat a different amount, ranging from 0.6 to 62.3 milligrams, and found a reduction in inflammation and pain with no side effects. [2]
RELATED: The Cannabidiol-Arthritis Connection
3. CBD as Adjunctive for Cancer Treatment
One of the most popular uses for CBD is relief from cancer-related pain and the harsh side effects of chemotherapy. Patients find that CBD not only alleviates nausea associated with therapy, but it also helps for pain when nothing does any longer.
In a small but well-designed clinical study in patients with advanced cancer, researchers found that a CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) extract proved effective when normal pain therapy was not fully effective anymore. [3]
RELATED: CBD Oil and Cancer: What You May Not Know
This is just one example, and more study is needed, but there is already a significant body of research about CBD for cancer—far beyond its potential for pain relief. For instance, laboratory and animal studies are pointing to anticarcinogenic action in lung and breast cancer, but this research is still in very early stages. [4][5]
Feedback received from current SOL✿CBD customers indicates that everyone's perfect dose is different and it can vary even for the same ailment. For some, it works immediately; for others, it takes a few weeks. Only you can determine your correct CBD dosage for pain, but be confident that you will most likely not be sorry.
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Sources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4851925/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392409007878
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000629520900971X
- https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cannabis-pdq#link/_34_toc
